CAMDEN—Rutgers University-Camden Director of Athletics Jeff Dean announced on June 3 that Gail Gilchrest has been named the new head coach of the Scarlet Raptors women’s basketball program. Gilchrest comes to Camden after most recently serving three seasons as the head women’s basketball coach at Drew University.
“We’re thrilled to have Gail on the staff and we’re looking forward to working with her,” said Dean. “She has a history of being successful wherever she has coached. She brings a lot of knowledge, experience and passion to the program.”
Rutgers-Camden has not had a winning season since capturing the NJAC title during the 2002-03 campaign. The Raptors have had seven consecutive losing seasons since that time, a span which has included five different head coaches.
Rutgers-Camden went 3-21 during the 2009-10 campaign, including 0-13 in NJAC competition.
“I played in the NJAC and coached in the NJAC as an assistant coach,” said Gilchrest, who was an All-American at conference rival Kean University and has been an assistant coach at NJAC school Rowan University. “I’m from New Jersey. I wanted to get the opportunity to get back into the conference.”
Gilchrest spent the last seven years building a pair of programs as a head coach. She took over the head coaching reins at Washington College in Maryland during the 2003-04 campaign and after three tough seasons, she led the Shorewomen to a 12-13 record during 2006-07. It was the program’s best record in six seasons and included a win over Muhlenberg, which was ranked 23rd nationally at the time.
Gilchrest moved on to Drew University for the 2007-08 season, inheriting a team that had graduated one All-American and another all-conference performer. With only two returning starters, her first Rangers team went 6-19. Drew improved to 11-14 during the 2008-09 season and had a breakthrough year in 2009-10, posting a 15-12 record and earning a berth in the ECAC semifinals. The Rangers’ victory total was the second-highest single-season win total in the history of a program that started in 1971.
While compiling a 32-45 mark in her three years at Drew, she rose to third on the all-time list of coaching wins. She coached two All-Landmark Conference players and three Landmark All-Academic Team members during her tenure at Drew.
Her Rangers teams played Rutgers-Camden twice during that span. They lost to the Raptors at Drew, 63-45, on Nov. 20, 2007 and beat Rutgers-Camden a year later in their season opener, 61-41, on Nov. 18, 2008. That game was played at the Community College of Philadelphia while Rutgers-Camden was undergoing a year-long renovation of its gymnasium.
A New Jersey product through and through, Gilchrest attended Rahway High School before starting her collegiate career at Mansfield University in Pennsylvania. After playing two years at Mansfield, she returned to New Jersey to finish her education and playing career at Kean University.
Between the two schools, she scored nearly 2,000 collegiate points and capped her career earning Kodak/WBCA Honorable Mention All-American and Region Three All-American recognition during the 1996-97 season with the Cougars.
A small forward, Gilchrest also captured a pair of NJAC and ECAC All-Star honors, was a MET Writers’ Association All-Star (1995-96) and was named Kean’s 1997 Female D’Angola Award Winner. The D’Angola Award is the highest honor which is presented as recognition of outstanding individual performance within the team concept that contributes to the enhancement of the team, the department of athletics and Kean University.
During her senior season in 1996-97, Gilchrest set Kean’s single-season records for scoring average (24.7 ppg) and free throws made (141). She also was a two-time team MVP in lacrosse for the Cougars.
Gilchrest earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in History from Kean in 1998 and later added her MBA in Human Resource Management from the University of Phoenix in 2005.
Gilchrest started her coaching career as an assistant with Rowan University from 1998-2000. During her two seasons with the Profs, Rowan posted a 46-9 record and advanced deep into the NCAA tournament each year. Gilchrest followed with coaching stints as an assistant coach at Gettysburg College and at Washington College before being named as Washington’s head coach in August of 2003.
Along the way, Gilchrest also has worked numerous basketball camps and even served as the head coach for a group of Division III All-Stars who represented the United States on a tour of Europe in July 2005.
“I’ve worked for a lot of good coaches,” she said. “I draw from that and pick things from my experiences as a player. It was great playing in this conference. Four coaches are still coaching from when I played in the conference. We’re all fighting for the same kids, for that Jersey kid.”